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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Elections & voting fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about elections & voting. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,414 published reviews in this topic

maharat-newsElections & voting

ما هو السيناريو الأفضل لحماية أصوات المغتربين وفرزها بشفافية؟

Publisher’s rating: صحيح

The article examines Lebanese expatriate ballots in the context of a proposal by MP Nehme Afram to count votes where they are cast rather than send them to Lebanon. It reports that Afram questioned the transparency of transporting ballots in a bag to the Banque du Liban, saying that anything moved without being counted could be vulnerable to manipulation or loss. The article’s central distinction is between the preferred safeguard and the procedure then prescribed by law: it says counting abroad would be preferable, but that the existing legal procedure sends the ballots to Lebanon for counting. To establish the legal position, the article cites Article 120 of Lebanon’s election law. It says polling-station officials must prepare two copies of a record of the election, including voter and ballot counts; one stays at the embassy or consulate, while the other and the ballot envelopes are sent via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants to the Banque du Liban. The envelopes and other election documents are then sent to the High Registration Committee in Beirut for counting and documentation, under rules governing safe transport and monitoring. The article says changing this arrangement would require a legal amendment, which it considers unlikely in the remaining time before the election. The article also quotes Ali Salim, executive director of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE). He favors counting ballots abroad, but says the process would need a detailed mechanism to protect against interference and ensure transparency, giving continuous camera monitoring accessible online as an example. He also argues that counting should not take place before the scheduled count in Lebanon, because early results from abroad could affect campaigning or pressure voters inside Lebanon. Thus, the article presents local counting as the preferred transparency measure, while describing legal constraints and the need for safeguards and synchronized counting as qualifications to its implementation.

FACTLYElections & voting

Recent picture of Akhilesh and Mulayam Singh Yadav meeting UP CM Yogi Adityanath and congratulating him for his victory in the 2022 UP Assembly Elections

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a photo presented as showing Akhilesh and Mulayam Singh Yadav meeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and congratulating him after the 2022 state election. FACTLY’s review identifies the photo as showing a different event: Adityanath visiting Mulayam Singh Yadav at his Lucknow residence in 2019, after Mulayam had been admitted to hospital with high blood sugar. The review says Adityanath visited to inquire about his health, not to receive congratulations for an election victory. To trace the image, the review says it conducted a reverse image search and found the same photo in an ANI UP/Uttarakhand tweet dated 10 June 2019. The accompanying report described Adityanath meeting Mulayam at his residence and noted that Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav were also present. Their presence in the earlier photograph therefore does not establish that the meeting was about the 2022 election. The review also addresses the post-election part of the claim. It cites an 11 March 2022 tweet in which Akhilesh thanked Uttar Pradesh voters for increasing the Samajwadi Party’s seats and said the party had shown that BJP seats could be reduced. FACTLY states that Akhilesh did not meet and congratulate Adityanath after the election results. The evidence thus identifies the photo’s 2019 setting and distinguishes it from the claim about a congratulatory meeting following the 2022 election.

FACTLYElections & voting

Photo confirming re-election by Election Commission in UP due to replacement of EVMs

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a viral photo presenting media-style screenshots as confirmation that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had announced re-polling in Uttar Pradesh seats where EVMs were replaced. FACTLY investigated the image and the reports it appeared to show. It found videos on the “Nation TV” YouTube channel with similar titles and thumbnails, but the videos themselves did not match the apparent news reports: one featured a phone conversation about EVM exchanges, and the other discussed possible Supreme Court intervention in an alleged tampering issue. The review also reports that the anchors pictured in the viral image were journalists Sandeep Choudhary and Ravish Kumar, rather than anchors appearing in those videos. The review says it found no credible news reports that the ECI had announced re-elections. It also cites a PIB Fact Check post that called the image fake and said the ECI had not announced re-polling in 142 seats. Taken together, the investigation distinguishes the video thumbnails and viral image from evidence of an actual election announcement: the videos did not substantiate the claim, and the cited official fact-check denied that such re-polling had been announced.

FACTLYElections & voting

Akhilesh Yadav’s Tweet ridiculing the party workers following the loss of his party in the 2022 UP Assembly elections

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a screenshot circulating after the Samajwadi Party lost to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh’s 2022 assembly election. The screenshot purported to show party chief Akhilesh Yadav mocking party workers as people who attended rallies for free liquor and chicken. FACTLY examined whether the post was an authentic tweet from Yadav. The review compared the account details shown in the viral screenshot with those of Yadav’s official account. It reports that the screenshot used the handle “@yadavakalesh” and profile name “AkalLesh Yadav,” while the official account used “@yadavakhilesh” and “Akhilesh Yadav.” FACTLY also compared the viral image with a screenshot of a tweet from the official account and concluded that the viral image had been digitally altered, using the official account’s profile image and name to add the purported text. The review further reports that Yadav did not make the alleged derogatory comments. Instead, it points to a post dated March 10, 2022, in which he thanked party workers and others for remaining active at vote-counting centres and urged them to return with proof of victory. Taken together, the account mismatch, the reported image comparison and the contrasting post support the review’s conclusion that the ridiculing tweet was not made by Yadav and that the screenshot was created digitally.

FACTLYElections & voting

Video of Bhagwant Mann in an inebriated state after winning 2022 Punjab elections

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post claimed that a video of Bhagwant Mann appearing in an inebriated condition was filmed after the Aam Aadmi Party’s victory in the 2022 Punjab elections. FACTLY’s review says the footage instead shows an earlier incident: it reports that the visuals date to 2017, when Mann was seen posing for photographs in an inebriated condition. To check the video’s provenance, the review says a Google search using relevant keywords led to a 2017 news article reporting the same visuals. That article described Mann tripping as he tried to step off a footpath and get into his car. The review also notes that the video had circulated earlier, including in 2019, rather than being newly recorded after the 2022 election. The review adds that it found no recent reports of Mann making public appearances in an inebriated condition following the election victory. Its conclusion therefore concerns the timing and reuse of this particular video: the footage was presented as recent, but the review identified it as old material.

FACTLYElections & voting

Photo shows the message of BJP’s victory in the recent UP elections which is displayed on the New York Stock Exchange

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a photo circulated as showing a message about BJP’s victory in the recent Uttar Pradesh elections on the New York Stock Exchange. FACTLY’s investigation identifies the photo as depicting a different place and a different time: it says the image is from 2017 and shows the Thomson Reuters building in Canary Wharf, London, rather than the New York Stock Exchange. The review links the message to Reuters coverage of BJP’s 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly-election victory, not to a recent election. The review describes several checks on the image and its surroundings. A reverse-image search found the same photo on Twitter, where BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya had shared it on 12 March 2017. The review says that Malviya identified the location as Canary Wharf. It also reports that similar photographs from stock-photo websites and Google Maps matched the Thomson Reuters building there. These checks support the review’s conclusion that the location in the claim is misidentified and that the photo predates the claim’s framing as recent. The review further says that searching the displayed message led to a Reuters article about the 2017 assembly-election victory, in which Reuters reported Narendra Modi had won a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh. Taken together, the image’s 2017 social-media provenance, the Canary Wharf building identification, and the matching Reuters election coverage support the conclusion that an old London image was presented as a recent display at the New York Stock Exchange.